Quilting apparatus



March 17, 1970 KALNING ETAL 3,500,777

QUILTING APPARATUS Filed March 7, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United StatesPatent 3,500,777 QUILTING APPARATUS Frederick E. Kalning, Quincy, andHoward E. Redman,

Weymouth, Mass., assignors t0 Mathewson Corporation, Quincy, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 711,386 Int.Cl. D05f 11/00 U.S. Cl. 112-118 20 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREApparatus for quilting having a plurality of transversely spaced sewingheads, a movable frame which is adapted to support the material to bequilted below the sewing heads for movement transversely and laterallythereof and transversely spaced pairs of lower and upper endless chainsmounted on the movable frame with the upper runs of the lower chain andthe lower runs of the upper chain substantially parallel and movable indirections to draw the material to be quilted onto the frame and to holdit gripped therebetween during the process of quilting.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Customarily quilting apparatus is designedto support the material to be quilted with its longitudinal dimensionlengthwise of the machine for movement longitudinally and transverselywith respect to a sewing head or heads. A clamping frame is used tomount the material on the movable frame for holding it stretched fiat byengagement of clamps at its edges and ends with the material. Usuallyseveral such clamping frames are employed so that while one frame is onthe machine another is available for mounting of the next quilting to bemade. These clamping frame are quite heavy and awkward to handle so thatsome means must be provided to lift and position them on the movableframe of the machine. The operation is laborious and time-consuming.Additionally since the frame supports the material with its longdimension longitudinally of the quilting machine and there is only asingle sewing head, the travel of the movable frame in each directionrelative to the sewing head must be at least equal to half the width andhalf the length of the material to be quilted so that a considerablefloor space is required for operation. To improve on apparatus of theforegoing kind there have been attempts to supply the material to bequilted continuously from a roll of material, quilt it on the run andcut the quilted material into suitable lengths after the entire lengthhas been processed. Such equipment has suffered from a lack of controlwhich would enable producing acceptable articles and requires thatfinishing operations be performed after quilting which in large partnullify the advantages sought to be obtained.

SUMMARY As herein illustrated the apparatus comprises a fixed frame, aplurality of linearly spaced sewing heads mounted on the frame, amovable frame adapted to hold the material to be quilted in a plane tobe operated on by the sewing heads, said movable frame being supportedfor movement in directions longitudinally and transversely of the sewingheads, and means for mounting the material on the movable framecomprising endless conveyors at opposite sides of the movable frame withwhich an end of the material to be quilted is adapted to be engaged anddrawn onto the movable frame, by progressive engagement of the conveyorswith the lateral edges of the material, to a position such that thematerial is entirely supported on the movable frame with its lateraledges engaged by said conveyors. There are clamps at the opposite endsof the frame adapted to be engaged with the ends of the material afterit has been drawn onto the frame. The conveyors have means spacedtherealong for engaging the lateral edges of the material, and extendthe length of the movable frame with the portions with which the lateraledges of the material are to be engaged substantially horizontal andmovable from one end of the frame to the other to draw the material ontothe frame, hold it on the frame during the quilting operation and thendischarge it from the frame. At the discharge end of the frame there aremeans for separating the quilted material from the conveyors. Preferablythe conveyors comprise pairs of upper and lower endless chains supportedwith the lower runs of the upper chains and the upper runs of the lowerchains adjacent and substantially parallel and carry upwardly anddownwardly arranged alternate lugs for gripping the lateral edges of thematerial as it is drawn between them. Guides support the adjacent runsintermediate their ends substantially parallel. At their discharge endsthe runs diverge to facilitate stripping the quilting material from theconveyors. A loading table mounted on wheels adjacement the end of theframe provides a supporting surface on which the material to be quiltedis adapted to be spread out flat with its lateral edges substantiallyaligned with the conveyors for movement of its leading end toward themovable frame to present the leading end to the conveyors and there ismeans on the table for engagement with the upper surface of the materialto spread it laterally as it is drawn from the table by the conveyors.The lower conveyors are fixed on the movable frame and there are beamsmounting the upper conveyors in parallel relation to the lower conveyorsfor adjustment relative thereto to effect increase or decrease of thegripping action of the conveyors on the edges of the material. Themovable frame corresponds in width to the length of the longest quilt tobe made and is adjustable therefrom to the shortest to be made and has alength at least as long as the width of the widest quilting to be made.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan to very small scale of a quilted covering for one sideof a mattress showing the pattern of the stitching;

FIG. 1a is a section on the line la-la of FIG. 1, with the componentparts comprising the ticking, filling and net separated to more easilyidentify them;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus by means of which thequilting is effected;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an end elevation on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3, to much largerscale;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevation of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the loading table with the component parts ofthe mattress cover which is to be quilted resting thereon in a positionready for movement onto the quilting frame of the machine.

Referring to the drawings (FIGS. 1 and 1a), there is shown a mattresscovering 10 of rectangular configuration with the pattern 12 of thequilting stitching shown on the surface. The covering is conventionallycomprised of a ticking layer 14, a filling layer 16 and a backing net18. The three layers are joined to each other by the quilting stitches.

The machine for joining the layers is illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 8,inclusive, and has a rigid standing frame comprised of spaced parallel,vertically disposed columns 20-20 between which there are securedvertically spaced, parallel, transversely extending beams 22 and 24. Thebeam 22 supports at its underside transversely spaced sewing heads 26,each being provided with a vertically supported needle 28 and a presserfoot 30. The beam 24 supports correspondingly spaced shuttle heads 32.The beam 24 on which the sewing heads are mounted is vertically movableto raise the sewing heads relative to the shuttle heads to enable thematerial to be introduced between them. The sewing heads and shuttleheads are adjustable on the beams to change the spacing or positioningto enable varying the pattern of the quilting stitches.

The machine embodies a frame 34 adapted to support the material to bequilted in a horizontal position for movement longitudinally andlaterally between the sewing heads and the shuttle headsthe longitudinaland lateral movement being provided for by supporting frames 36 and 38which are of conventional design and need not be described furtherherein. Longitudinal and lateral movement of these frames is generallyproduced by a pattern and follower (not shown); however, other controlmeans may be employed, for example, suitably designed cams and levers asshown in Patent No. 2,260,382, or a programmed tape.

An important aspect of this invention is to mount the assembly to bequilted on the frame 34 without having to use the conventional clampingframes currently employed for this purpose. This is achieved herein byproviding the supporting frame 34 with conveyor means which will bedescribed hereinafter and providing a supporting table 37 at one end ofthe frame 34 upon which the material to be quilted is assembled andwhich enables spreading it out perfectly flat and uniform preparatory tomounting it on the frame 34. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the assembly ofthe ticking, filling and net is mounted on the top of the table 37 withthe leading end adjacent the frame 34 for movement in the direction ofthe arrow a. Although the top of the table is smooth enough so thatoperators standing at each side could slide the leading end of theassembly into engagement with the conveyor means on the frame 34, thisis somewhat awkward and wasteful of manpower. Hence the table isprovided with wheels, as shown in FIG. 2, for movement up to the frameof the machine to present the leading end of the assembly to theconveyor means. To enable bringing the leading end into close proximitywith the conveyor means the forward end of the table is made narrowerthan the distance between the conveyors so that it can be movedforwardly between the conveyor means thereby presenting the laterallyprojecting edges of the leading end of the assembly directly intoengagement with the conveyor means. Preferably drag bars 38 are mountedabove the table to have frictional engagement with the assembly andthese are located at diverging angles so as to spread the assembly as itis moved forwardly and to maintain it in a smooth unwrinkled condition.Optionally there may be corresponding drag bars located in slots in thetop of the table for engagement with the underside of the assembly.

The frame 34 for holding the assembly during the quilting operationcomprises transversely spaced channels 46-46 fixed to the frame 36 andvertically above these channels spaced parallel channels 4848 which areyieldably supported above the channels 46-46 as will appear hereinafter.

The channels 46 (FIGS. 5, 6 and 7) have mounted on their inner sideslongitudinally spaced sprockets 50 and 52 upon which are entrained anendless chain 54. The channels 48 have on their inner faceslongitudinally spaced sprockets 56 and 58 upon which there are entrainedendless chains 60. The upper runs of the lower chains 54 and the lowerruns of the upper chains 60 are held in spaced parallel relation byguides 62 and 64 mounted on the inner sides of the channels andextending lengthwise thereof from the sprockets 50 and 56 at theentrance end toward the sprockets 52 and 58 at the discharge end. Thereare nubs or pins 66 on alternate links of the chains and the chains arearranged on the sprockets so that the nubs on one chain alternate withthe nubs on the other chain so as to engage and grip the material todraw it from the loading table forwardly onto the frame 34 between theparallel runs of the chains and thus to hold it spread transversely in ahorizontal position for the quilting operation. Portions of the chainsat the discharge end are supported in diverging relation, as shown inFIG. 5, with respect to each other by the eX- pedient of providingsmaller sprockets at this end so that these portions of the chain travelaway from each other and thus disengage the nubs or pins 66 from thequilted material. Stripping bars 68 are provided at each side of theframe between the diverging portions of the chains for engagement withthe underside of the quilted material at its edges to lift the latterfrom the lugs on the lower chains.

As related above, the chanels 48 are yieldably supported on the channels46, the purpose of which is to enable varying the pressure between theconfronting runs of the chains and hence the grip which may be appliedto the edges of the material to both draw it onto the frame and to holdit taut after it is on the frame during the quilting operation. Supportis provided for by longitudinally spaced channel members 69 fixed attheir lower ends to the channels 46 with their upper ends extendingupwardly therefrom as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The channels 69 havespaced parallel flanges 7070 and are secured at their lower ends withspacers 72 between them and the channels 46 by screw bolts 74 passingthrough the channels and spacers into the channels 46. The upper ends ofthe channels 69 contain vertically disposed slots 76 and are secured tothe upper channels 48 with spacers 78 between them and the channels 48by bolts 80 which extend through blocks 82 spanning the slots 76,through the slots 76 and spacers 78 into the channels 48. The spacers 78have bosses 84 extending forwardly therefrom through the slots 76 whichcontain vertically threaded holes 86 in which there are mounted screws88. Each boss 84 has a base which seats against the spacer 78 behind it.Vertically below the lower ends of the screws there are blocks 90 weldedor otherwise fastened to the lower ends of the channels 69 containingvertically disposed holes 92. Coiled springs 94 are mounted in the holes92 with their upper ends engaged with the lower ends of the screws 88.It is thus evident that the channels 48 are movable upwardly anddownwardly relative to the channels 46 to an upper position in which thelower ends of the slots 76 engage the lower ends of the bases 84 and toa downward position in which the upper ends of the slots engage theupper ends of the bases 84. By rotation of the screws 88 the compressionin the springs 94 may be increased or decreased to in turn adjust thepressure between the conveyor chains.

The chains at the respective sides of the frame diverge from the endsengaged with the sprockets 50, 56 to the ends engaged with the sprockets52, 58 laterally, that is, away from each other approximately one inchfrom endto-endthe purpose being to place some tension in the material asit is drawn onto the frame and thereby to prevent any sag midway betweenthe sides of the frame below the bobbin heads 32.

After the material is drawn entirely onto the frame its ends must beclamped and for this purpose there are provided clamps 91 at each end,each clamp comprising a transversely mounted bar 93 pivotally supportedat its opposite ends on trunnions 95 fixed to the frame so that it maybe moved from a retracted position, elevated from the plane of thematerial to an operative position in engagcment with the material allthe way across the frame.

The clamping bar at the discharge end is adjustable longitudinally ofthe frame for different widths of material.

While it is customary to position the material which is to make up themattress cover with its long dimension disposed longitudinally of thequilting apparatus, the present aparatus is designed to support thematerial which is to be quilted with its long dimension transversely ofthe apparatus and this, together with the fact that there are aplurality of sewing heads instead of one, enables reducing the floorspace required for the apparatus since the length of the machine isreduced by the difference between the length of the covering and itswidth and the transverse travel of the frame is reduced in directproportion to the number of sewing. heads employed.

Suitable driving means for effecting longitudinal and transversemovement of the frames 36 and 38 to traverse the material supportingframe 34 relative to the sewing head is provided and in addition thereis means fordriving the conveyor chains to draw the assembled materialonto the frame and after the quilting operation to drive them again todischarge the quilted material from the frame. Optionally there is meansfor moving the end clamps into and out of engagement. The transversecomponents of the frame 34 are comprised of telescopically associatedparts which enable adjusting the'spacing between them to provide fordifferent length covers.

The term quilting as used herein is intended to cover the joiningtogether of two or more layers of material usually with a soft fillerlayer by courses of stitching running along straight, zigzag or curvedlines as desired to effect joining of the parts and optionally toproduce a pleasing pattern.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for quilting comprising a fixed frame, a plurality oflinearly spaced sewing heads mounted on the frame, a movable frameadapted to hold the material to be quilted in a plane to be operated onby the sewing heads, said movable frame being supported for movement indirections longitudinally and transversely of the sewing heads, andmeans for mounting the material on the movable frame; comprising endlessconveyors at opposite sides of the movable frame with which an end ofthe material to be quilted is adapted to be engaged and drawn onto themovable frame by progressive engagement of the conveyors with thelateral edges of the material, to a position such that the material isentirely supported on the movable frame with its lateral edges engagedby said conveyors, and clamps at the opposite ends of the movable frameadapted to be engaged with the ends of the material after it has beendrawn onto the frame.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless conveyors havemeans spaced therealong for engaging the lateral edges of the material.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising means paralleling theendless conveyors between which and the conveyors the lateral edges ofthe material are drawn by the conveyors, said means operating to holdthe edges engaged with the conveyors.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless conveyors extendthe length of the movable frame and there is means for effectingmovement of the conveyors to draw the material to be quilted onto themovable frame from one end, said means being operable following thequilting operation to elfect further movement of. the conveyors todischarge the material from the movable frame at the other end andsimultaneously to draw another length of material onto the one end ofthe movable frame.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, comprising, at the end of the movableframe from which the material is to be discharged, means for disengagingthe lateral edges of the material from the conveyors.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the endless conveyors divergefrom the one end of the movable frame where they receive the material tobe quilted toward the other end of the movable frame from which thequilted material is discharged.

7. Apparatus according to claim 4, comprising a loading table mountedadjacent the end of the conveyors to which the material to be quilted isdelivered for drawing of the material onto the frame, said tableproviding a supporting surface upon which the material to be quilted isadapted to be spread out fiat with its lateral edges substantiallyaligned with the conveyors.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, comprising means mounting the tablefor advancing the leading end of the material resting thereon intoengagement with the conveyors.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7, comprising means on the table forspreading the material resting on the table laterally as it is movedtoward the conveyors for engagement therewith.

10. Apparatus according to claim 7, comprising means supporting thetable for movement of its forward end toward the conveyors to presentthe leading end of the material to the conveyors, and means on the tablefor engagement with the upper side of the material, said latter meansholding the material against the surface of the table and operating tospread the material laterally as it is moved from the table by theconveyors.

11. Apparatus for quilting comprising a fixed frame, a

plurality of linearly spaced sewing heads mounted on the frame, amovable frame adapted to hold the material to be quilted in a plane tobe operated on by the sewing heads, said movable frame being supportedfor movement in directions longitudinally and transversely of the sewingheads, and means for mounting the material on the movable framecomprising pairs of upper and lower endless conveyors supported with thelower runs of the upper conveyors adjacent the upper runs of the lowerconveyors between which the lateral edges of the material are adapted tobe engaged and advanced onto the frame, and upwardly and downwardlyarranged, alternating lugs lengthwise of the conveyors for gripping thelateral edges of the material as it is drawn between the runs of theconveyors.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the conveyors extendlengthwise of the movable frame with their adjacent runs travelling in adirection to draw the material to be quilted from one end of the frametoward the other, and there are guides intermediate the ends of theconveyors supporting the adjacent runs in parallel relation to eachother and the ends at the discharge end in divergent relation to eachother to facilitate discharge of the quilted material from the frame.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, comprising stripper rails situatedsubstantially in the plane of the adjacent runs of the conveyors andextending in the direction of movement of the runs from the points ofdivergence thereof to the ends of the runs.

14. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the conveyors comprise apair of transversely spaced endless chains mounted on sprockets spacedlongitudinally of the movable frame with their upper runs substantiallyhorizontal, a second pair of transversely spaced endless chains, beamsmounting sprockets on which the second pair of chains are entrained,means yieldably supporting each beam with its chain on the movable framewith the lower run of the chain parallel to the upper run of the chainon the movable frame below it, and means operable to adjust the pressureexerted by the weight of the beams on the material between the runs ofthe chain.

15. Apparatus according to claim 12, comprising telescoping partsconnecting the longitudinal components of the movable frame foradjusting the transverse width of the frame.

16. Apparatus for quilting comprising a fixed frame, a beam mountedtransversely thereof, said beam being movable in elevation, a pluralityof sewing heads mounted in spaced relation on the beam transversely ofthe fixed frame with their needles extending perpendicularly downwardfrom the beam, a movable frame adapted to hold material to be quiltedbelow the beam in a plane to be operated upon by the needles, saidmovable frame being Supported for movement in directions longitudinallyand transversely of the sewing heads, and a pattern operable to controlthe movement of the movable frame, said movable frame corresponding intransverse width to the length of the longest quilting to be made andbeing adjustable therefrom to the shortest quilting to be made, and inlength to the Widest of the quilting to be made, an assembly tablesupported at one end of the movable frame on which the material to bequilted is adapted to be placed with its long dimension transverse tothe movable frame and with its transverse dimension longitudinally ofthe frame, conveyor means on the movable frame movable longitudinallythereof, said conveyor means having transversely spaced runs situated atthe level of the top of the table, travelling away from the table towardthe opposite end of the movable frame, and means on the runs operable byengagement with the transverse ends of the material on the table to pullit forwardly from the table onto the frame, said means being operable tohold the material when drawn onto the frame while the quilting operationis in progress.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16, comprising means on the tableadjacent the ends of the conveyors bearing upon the material andoperating thereon to spread the ends laterally in opposite directions.

18. Apparatus according to claim 16, comprising means supporting thetable for movement toward the movable frame to present the leading endof the material to the conveyors.

19. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there is means mounting thesewing heads for movement vertically on the fixed frame relative to themovable frame.

20. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sewing heads areadjustable transversely on the fixed frame relative to the movableframe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,044,426 7/1962 Schwarzberger1121 17 3,180,293 4/1965 Cash 112118 3,382,825 5/1968 Cash 112-117MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner

